


Sweet Tea

by HisagiJ69



Category: Are You Alice?
Genre: Alice wakes up, Cute, M/M, Tea, tsundere mood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-07-01
Packaged: 2018-04-07 03:55:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4248426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HisagiJ69/pseuds/HisagiJ69
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The "morning after" my first short text, "The Hatter's Choice" :3</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweet Tea

**Author's Note:**

> I re-read my first short work on this manga and felt like writing this scene that happens afterwards :3 I decided I had nothing to lose by posting it ^_^ Nothing special, actually, please don't judge me :P

Alice woke up with the sound of boiling water echoing in his ears. Slow and lazy, it took him a long time to realize he was actually awake, and furthermore to actually open his eyes. He put one hand over his forehead in a useless try to stop the excessive clarity from burning his pupils. His eyes quickly got used, though, and he found himself staring at the ceiling and wondering about the weirdly peaceful atmosphere surrounding him. Alice heard light footsteps, the sound of porcelain tableware being managed and the water stopping boiling. Turning his head to the side, the boy faced an expected and somehow familiar scene: the Hatter preparing some morning tea. Still taken over by the sleepiness, Alice didn’t found immediate strength to move or talk, so he just stood there, staring at the raven haired man pouring water into a small and pretty cup. He moved so naturally it wasn’t hard to guess that was something he was used to doing every single day, and in spite of his big and rough appearance, he moved with such delicacy it was almost frightening and equally engaging. And even doing such simple work, his dark eyes still owned their natural intensity and seriousness, which made it all seem even more exotic. _Crazily nice to look at_ , Alice thought, almost unconsciously.

            As he was fully awake in that moment, he decided, absently stroking the white sheets covering him, that being laying on that bed was strange. His mind wandering around the inquisition of how he had ended up there, memories of the previous day occurred so suddenly that Alice gasped in surprise, sitting straight, still holding onto the sheets. Had all of that really happened? It seemed too unreal and yet…

            “Oh, you awake.”

            The unexpected words made Alice jump on his place and stare at the Hatter, which slowly approached with steady steps, holding his cup of tea with both hands.

            “Hum… Hi.” He answered, out of ideas to start a complex conversation at such early hour.

            “Hi.” The Hatter replied, simply, sitting on the edge of the bed and sipping a bit of his tea, completely absentmindedly. After a long pause, he looked at Alice by the corner of his eyes. “Had a good night of sleep?”

            “Ah… Hum…” Alice agreed, silently, looking down. He still fought to understand if his memories were true or not, for those made him slightly embarrassed.

            “Ah? Are you sure?” The Hatter insisted, his stern look still present.

            “I… I am fine.” Alice murmured, looking away from the man.

            “Well, it doesn’t seem like you to be so quiet. The Alice I know would be complaining about something already.”

            “I told you I am fine! Why are you so insistent?” Alice shouted back, irritated, folding arms over his chest. “It’s still early, give me a break.” Seeing the Hatter about to open his mouth, he continued. “And what do you mean by that? Are you trying to imply that I complain too much? Because if you do maybe you should start by giving me less reasons to complain. It was your damn tea boiling that woke me up in the first place.”

            And the grumpy expression on Alice’s face shifted to one of the utmost shock. This because, in that very moment, the Hatter let out a chuckle. It was a low, guttural one, but Alice swore his lips curved upwards in a smile. A short smile rare enough to let the boy astonished. The man in dark talked with ease: “Yeah, that’s exactly what I was talking about.”

            It took too long for Alice to understand how pathetically his gaze was locked on the other man but, as he did, he immediately looked away, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. “Oh, shut up.”

            “So that’s it?” The Hatter asked, drinking more of his tea. “As you are fine enough, can I go?”

            The direct way to express his will to get out made Alice feel hurt in a very common way. “Are you that eager to get rid of me?”

            “I have business to attend to. I think you might be fine on your own as long as you don’t leave the house and don’t open the door to strangers. Do you think yourself capable of doing so?”

            The itching annoyance was fully back and also was Alice’s sulky mood. “Tch. Don’t mock me. I’ll be perfectly fine on my own! Get out of here. I don’t want you here, anyway.”

            The Hatter raised an eyebrow quizzically. “Is that it? Nothing else you want?”

            “No.” Said, Alice, dragging the word to make it clear.

            “Alright.” The Hatter answered, shrugging, readying to get up.

            But in that same moment, Alice decided there was something else he wanted. Or rather, something else he needed, for he certainly didn’t want it. Even though, his body seemed to move on its own as he reached for the Hatter’s sleeve, making him stop in his tracks and look at the blond boy holding him. He just looked, waiting for something, and Alice, after a moment of internal debate in which his cheeks turned redder, mumbled without looking up: “For taking me home… Yesterday…” Then, almost inaudibly: “Thank you…”

            The Hatter heard it, even low as it was whispered. And that was probably the only thing he didn’t expect to hear from the prideful and cocky Alice. Anyway, it felt nice, almost creepily nice, to see the boy so shyly tell him that. He couldn’t let it pass, so he leaned closer. “What did you say? I think I didn’t hear you well.”

            “I-I said thank you!” Alice shouted, blushing angrily. “You heard it perfectly, you idiot! Stop being an ungrateful bastard!”

            “Ungrateful, you say? I believe I’m the one who did you a favour. So don’t answer back so disrespectfully to the man who had to endure the weight of your limp body through the pouring rain.”

            Those accusations were making Alice more and more embarrassed, especially because he was being reminded of how awkward all that situation had been. “Are you calling me fat or something? Because if that’s the case, you are being extremely rude!”

            “No.” The Hatter affirmed, serious. “I’m calling you heavy, which is very different.”

            “It’s basically the same thing!” Alice complained. “You know what? I take back my ‘thank you’! I don’t want you to have it!”

            “Don’t get mad.” The man asked, calm and easily. “Your gratitude has been accepted already, anyway. There’s no way back now.”

            “Oh, I hate you…”

            “The feeling is mainly reciprocal.” He looked down at Alice, who sulked and mumbled unintelligible curses, probably, and couldn’t help to find it annoyingly cute. “So? Now can I go? Or have you something else you’d like to say?”

            The Hatter was ready to hear a round ‘no’ as answer, but instead he was greeted by a short silence, as Alice fell into deep thought and all liveliness seemed to abandon him. Through the boy’s mind, the Hatter could not tell, ran the image of the corpse laying on the floor from last night. He wanted to ask, but his heart felt suddenly heavy and made his mouth dry and sore. “So I… He…”

            He didn’t need to continue, for the Hatter knew already what he was referring to. And so, another of those weird and unexpected reactions that seemed to be rule that morning happened. Without a single word, Alice felt his head pressed down by the large hand of his companion, so hard it made his neck bend and almost hurt. He opened his mouth to argue and used his own hands in order to remove that shameless one from the top of his head, but found himself frozen when he looked at the Hatter’s face. The man was thoughtfully looking at his hand, which now he used to slowly ruffle the blond hair. “Don’t think about that. It’s over.”

            Alice would have talked, but he was just too overwhelmed. For that violent pat, he realized, was actually the Hatter’s clumsy way of comforting him. Or trying to, at least. Unable to deny his own ridiculous action, the Hatter’s eyes looked away from Alice’s shinning ones and he removed his hand from its place, immediately shoving his cup of tea in front of Alice’s face, making the boy jump back in surprise by the sudden movement. He took the cup in his hands by instinct, looking at the Hatter, still dumbfounded. “Drink some tea.” The dark haired man ordered, holding hands between his opened legs in a somehow nervous gesture.

            Alice stood there, cup in his hands, gazing at the strange picture. He felt like laughing for a second, for that side of the Hatter’s was unseen to him, but decided not to ruin the moment, since a bigger part of him liked the view.

            The Hatter sighed to regain composure, which was rather easy. “What I am saying is that nothing of what happened really matters. We’re here now, and that’s the only thing you need to know. So don’t get depressive over ridiculous things.”

            “So…”Alice mumbled, grinning at himself in a mixture of mortification and glee, while turning the warm cup between his fingers. “So you said something… last night…” His heart was beating very fast now, it was absurd actually, for him to be so nervous over something probably so insignificant. But he did remember that, last night, while he was breaking down, those simple words had brought him back. “You said… Something about… You… not wanting another Alice…” The boy stuttered, trying to seem as natural as he could, what was actually close to none. His tone lowered and he dared to look at the Hatter. “Did you mean it?” He didn’t know what kind of answer he was waiting for, but he felt an unexplainable need to ask, anyway. He did crush all of his pride to do so, to be honest.

            The cold silence that followed made Alice regret to have ever thought of posing such question. Cold sweat building on his forehead, the boy saw the cup tremble within his own shaky hands. The Hatter stared at him, expressionless, dark deep eyes cutting through him. When the man talked, his words were fast and assertive:

            “I have no idea of what you’re talking about.” He said, looking away.

            Alice twitched his eyebrow, in a moment shocked enough to think of throwing a pillow or something heavier at the man for giving him that crappy answer. He felt like shouting because he was serious and the other was toying him around. But looking at the Hatter’s expression, all of that anger faded away, for there it was, that small and still kind smile, barely seen even by attentive eyes. Looking at the man was enough to make Alice feel his heart racing and he knew in that very moment what the Hatter meant. It was the only answer he needed.

            Sighing in relief and contentment, ones he wasn’t fully comfortable with yet, and feeling light and cosy in his place over the bed, having it nothing to do with the nice weather or the soft mattress, Alice drew a smile himself. “Well, I might’ve been dreaming. There is no way you would say such a thing.”

            “Indeed, there was not.” The Hatter agreed, knowing too well which game they both so willingly played.

            Alice slightly shook his head and decided to take a sip of the tea in his hands. The moment he did so, he pulled the cup away and showed a displeased expression. “Bah, this tea…”

            The Hatter raised an eyebrow, mistrusting. “What is your problem with my tea? It is perfect tea.”

            “No way!” Alice complained. “Too hellishly sweet!” He decided, putting the cup down over the timetable.

            The next moment, the Hatter’s hand reached for the blond boy, cupping his cheek and making him turn his face to him. He leaned forward and, before Alice could react, he touched the other’s lips with his own. Alice felt heat running through his whole body as he actually felt the Hatter’s mouth against him, lips smooth and strangely caring, caressing his, the man’s tongue softly coming out to lick his lower lip. It was so nice he couldn’t even believe it. Consumed by the moment and impelled by the surprise, Alice moaned lowly in pleasure and only that sound made him wake up from that trance. He violently shoved the Hatter away, covering his mouth with the back of his hand, breath heavy and heart pounding nonstop in his chest. “W-What the-?! W-What do you think you’re doing?!”

            The Hatter showed a short grin that quickly faded, turning into a fake seriousness. “I was tasting the tea, of course.” He then licked his lip with slow and deliberate intend and closed his eyes with a nod. “As I thought, it is perfect. You are the one who can’t appreciate good tea.”

            Alice was left there, blushing like crazy, gibbering nonsense in his raw embarrassment and astonishment, no consistent phrases or even words coming out from his mouth.

            That reaction, of course, was gold for the Hatter, teasing by nature, who stood up with a sigh. “I am going now. Try not to get yourself killed until I come back.” And he walked to the door, leaving a poor and lost Alice behind. Closing the door behind him, the Hatter left out a low chuckle, passing a finger over his lips, in which that brief kiss still lingered. It hadn’t been planned, but it had also been way better than he had expected. A must-repeat, he decided, putting his hands on his pockets and walking away from the house.


End file.
